Satisfactory Academic Progress Appeal Process

Students who do not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards cannot receive financial aid. However, if extenuating circumstances contributed to your inability to meet SAP requirements, you may request reconsideration by submitting an appeal form with appropriate supporting documentation.

Students who wish to appeal must do so by a prescribed deadline.

Appeal Deadlines

Summer: Monday, July 6^th

Fall: Monday, August 31^st

Spring: Monday, February 1^st

Extenuating or Mitigating Circumstances

If extenuating circumstances contributed to your inability to meet SAP requirements and you need financial assistance to attend school, you should submit an appeal. Mitigating or extenuating circumstances may include:

Illness
Death in the family
Family problems (e.g., parents' separation or divorce)

This is not a comprehensive list. Any documentable event(s), outside your control, that prevented you from meeting SAP standards may qualify.

GPA & Pace Appeal Form

The appeal form gives you the opportunity to tell us about the event(s) that contributed to your SAP issue(s).

For students identified with a GPA and/or Pace issue, your appeal form must:

Describe the extenuating circumstance(s) that led to your noncompliance.
Explain what has changed that will allow you to meet SAP requirements in the future.
Provide supporting documentation that matches what you’ve described in your appeal.

Note: For students with a GPA issue, please do not forget to also submit an appeal for continued enrollment at JMU to the Academic Student Services Department. These appeals processes are similar but separate

GPA & Pace Appeal Form

Max Time Appeal Form

For students identified with a Maximum Time issue, your appeal form must:

Explain why you have attempted so many credits
Tell us how many courses/credits you have remaining
Tell us your expected graduation date and the major(s)/minor(s) you intend to complete
Provide supporting documentation from an advisor confirming the information you’ve provided

Note: If you have also been identified with GPA and/or Pace issue(s) you should still complete the Max Time appeal form but will also need to explain the circumstances surrounding those issues and provide additional supporting documentation for them.

Max Time Appeal form

Expand All

SAP Supporting Documentation

Students requesting consideration due to extenuating circumstances must provide credible documentation that verifies the situation and its impact on academic or personal performance. Documentation should be recent, relevant, and from a third-party professional whenever possible. Sensitive information may be redacted, but enough detail must remain for evaluation.

Your third-party documentation must:

Be submitted on official stationary or by email from a valid JMU email account. (This means when you use JMU email, the message must come directly from your third party’s official JMU email account to the SAP mailbox at finaid_sap@jmu.edu.)
Verify that the extenuating circumstance(s) will not influence your future academic performance.
Confirm the timeframe referenced in your appeal.

Examples of Extenuating Circumstances and applicable supporting documentation are below. If your situation is not reflected in this list and you have questions about what kind of documentation could be submitted, feel free to reach out to our office for guidance. After reviewing your appeal form and supporting information, we may request additional documentation for clarification purposes and would send that request via email.

Medical (Physical Health)